Falls

The mare, built of the same breed which Avangeline was, steadied her attention onto Avangeline as though she was searching her. Nervousness blossomed in the pit of Avangeline’s stomach and she swallowed, feeling wariness crawl beneath her flesh the longer those eyes remained on her. Avangeline had known very few in her life, just the herd of the valley and the only build as she was had been her parents, her father painted as an iridescent galaxy and her mother the color of spun gold. Neither had been this freckled gray with an intriguing mark upon her body as Avangeline had never seen and so Avangeline was uncertain as to why she was being watched.

Her confusion only furthered when the mare spoke, and though her tone was kind and searching, the words were foreign. Avangeline flicked her ears forward and frowned. Because Al-Hattaal sometimes spoke in words she did not know she assumed, perhaps, that he had known what was said. Her gaze turned to him only to see he appeared less than open concerning the stranger. His tone, holding a firm bite, confirmed this message.

She looked from Al-Hattaal to the mare, back once more and then refocused on the mare, unable to shake the way she had been watching Avangeline before. “Do I know you?” She was beginning to sound like a parrot, she thought, asking first if Al-Hattaal had known this mare and now if this mare knew her.

Perhaps she truly was mad… what sort of horse simply awakens in the midst of an island, saltwater on their coat and no memory of ever arriving here? Avangeline had thought perhaps a god against Tsura had swept her away in their powers and messed with her mind to keep her from remembering the way home, but the longer the days stretched by with unanswered questions the more she became suspicious of everything and assumed anyone she investigated could perhaps give her the answers she so desperately sought.

“Sorry,” she floundered, apologizing as she realized the question was such an odd one to ask, “you were… looking at me.”